WASHINGTON (AP) – President-elect Donald Trump is reviving long debunked attempts to link vaccines to autism, asking a vocal skeptic to chair a commission on vaccination safety – a move that alarmed child health experts.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. met with Trump at Trump Tower in New York on Tuesday, and told reporters that he had agreed to lead the effort, whatever form it takes.
“President-elect Trump has some doubts about the current vaccine policies and he has questions about it,” Kennedy said, adding that “we ought to be debating the science.”
To pediatricians, there’s nothing left to debate.
“Vaccines have been part of the fabric of our society for decades and are the most significant medical innovation of our time,” Drs. Fernando Stein and Karen Remley of the American Academy of Pediatrics said in a statement Tuesday.